Caran d'Ache Neocolor II Water Soluble Wax Pastel Set - 10 Pack

If one can be in love with an art material... then I am in love with these wax pastels (crayons). They are unlike any wax pastel out there, the colours are so vibrant and despite Caran D'Ache listing these under their "arts & crafts" category, make no mistake: these are artist-grade. They all feature lightfastness information (most are lightfast) and they handle beautifully. The Neocolor I tend to get less love than the water-soluble Neocolor II and I am mystified as to why: they are the *perfect* medium for sketchbooks. They do not crumble or produce dust like dr pastels do, they are not sticky and do not smudge like oil pastels do. You don't even really need to fix them. They are a joy to work with and I am so happy with my purchase, The only downside is that ... MoreIf one can be in love with an art material... then I am in love with these wax pastels (crayons). They are unlike any wax pastel out there, the colours are so vibrant and despite Caran D'Ache listing these under their "arts & crafts" category, make no mistake: these are artist-grade. They all feature lightfastness information (most are lightfast) and they handle beautifully. The Neocolor I tend to get less love than the water-soluble Neocolor II and I am mystified as to why: they are the *perfect* medium for sketchbooks. They do not crumble or produce dust like dr pastels do, they are not sticky and do not smudge like oil pastels do. You don't even really need to fix them. They are a joy to work with and I am so happy with my purchase, The only downside is that Caran D'Ache only makes 40 of these + the metallics. I would love for an 80 set to be available to match the Neocolor II.

A staple in my classrooms and my own work!

Such brilliant color! Such fun! Oh how I love using these, I can't stop! I used some Christmas money along with a Blick gift card to buy myself the 96 piece set after having a smaller tin for a few years. They have become a mainstay in my mixed media work. I'm also a teacher and got the class pack for my students to use. I'm "art on a cart" and these paint crayons (as my students call them) allow the littles to paint in our short sessions in a carpeted room. I have them create the work during most of our 30 minute class, then for the last part of class, I hand out small brushes and a small amount of water for them to activate their drawings. The WOW factor is fantastic!!

Absolute fantastic crayon with great opacity and mixablity

I love these crayons for their opacity and mixability. They allow for subtle color mixing so you can actually use a limited palette with these unlike the Neopastels from the same brand. Despite the ability to mix colors they actually build up to a nice level of opacity; though not as strong as the Neopastels you can still easily cover dark colors with lighter colors. Excellent lightfastness and a they feel great to draw with. They actually feel similar to the Cray-Pas expressionist though a bit harder. They are hard enough to sharpen well in my little metal hand held two size sharpener and they aren't so expensive as to make me cringe at the thought of losing some of the material as it is sharpened. Additionally the water soluble Neocolor II sharpenings can be saved ... MoreI love these crayons for their opacity and mixability. They allow for subtle color mixing so you can actually use a limited palette with these unlike the Neopastels from the same brand. Despite the ability to mix colors they actually build up to a nice level of opacity; though not as strong as the Neopastels you can still easily cover dark colors with lighter colors. Excellent lightfastness and a they feel great to draw with. They actually feel similar to the Cray-Pas expressionist though a bit harder. They are hard enough to sharpen well in my little metal hand held two size sharpener and they aren't so expensive as to make me cringe at the thought of losing some of the material as it is sharpened. Additionally the water soluble Neocolor II sharpenings can be saved and used as paint later on. And not enough can be said about the degree to which these dilute with water, I would describe them almost as a gouache stick due to their opacity and complete dilution in water. Excellent and highly recommended.#sweepstakes#sweepstakes

As good as everyone says.

What can I say about these that you haven’t already heard? Yes, the colors are super vibrant, they dissolve with water without leaving the sketch marks behind. A little will go a long way, but they are so versatile and fun that you will find yourself replacing your go to colors indubitably. My one and only gripe is that unless you wet them they remain tacky and will transfer to the opposing page when used in a sketchbook. What can I say I’m a neat freak! If I’m particularly worried about I’ll give it a very light misting of water with an atomizer and let it dry completely before closing my sketchbook. Most of the time that is enough to create a barrier that is somewhat set enough not to transfer. If you are heavy handed when you draw it won’t be enough. Hope this ... MoreWhat can I say about these that you haven’t already heard? Yes, the colors are super vibrant, they dissolve with water without leaving the sketch marks behind. A little will go a long way, but they are so versatile and fun that you will find yourself replacing your go to colors indubitably. My one and only gripe is that unless you wet them they remain tacky and will transfer to the opposing page when used in a sketchbook. What can I say I’m a neat freak! If I’m particularly worried about I’ll give it a very light misting of water with an atomizer and let it dry completely before closing my sketchbook. Most of the time that is enough to create a barrier that is somewhat set enough not to transfer. If you are heavy handed when you draw it won’t be enough. Hope this helps someone lol. Cheers!

Good pastels but the tin was bent in the middle.

I use this pastels to color backgrounds and so far I am impressed! The only thing that bothers me is that the tin that contained the pastels was bent and that made me worry if the sticks inside got broken in this process. Also the singles that I bought with the 30 pc set came inside a box with no padding. The pcs were freely moving and bouncing around which make me think if I will find our soon that they are crumbly. I know I got them at discounted price but care should be put to packaging as well. I am planning to buy open stock as I need them but hope that they will be packaged more carefully. The oil pastels are of superb quality #sweepstakes.

I like these ALOT

I avoided purchasing the Neocolor II's because of the price, so I bought other "comparable" brands which were also great. But when Blicks was having a great sale on these, I purchased a few and was blown away. I now understand the hype over these pastel crayons. I have since purchased even more. They are very pigmented, and blend out phenomenally with no visible lines/marks.

Love these, always coming back to them

I use these all the time for making loose artwork. On high quality (heavy and textured) watercolor paper they lift into the water easily. On cheaper paper, like my cheap Canson brand paper (which is light and almost no texture) they do not lift as easily into water. That's not really an issue though, as it just means you must employ different art techniques on the different materials.I LOVE how easy these are to use to make sketches and test out ideas. The colors are vibrant and beautiful, and the waxy nature of the pastels is really nice. There are so many different ways to be creative with these. #sweepstakes

Neocolor IIs are my favorite art supply

Neocolor IIs are my favorite art supply- If I was trapped on a deserted island and could pick only 1 medium, Neocolor IIs would be it!I love the versatility, the high pigment load, the blendability, the ease of layering colors on top of one another and on top of other media.There is a nice range of colors and the shades are appealing, skewing more toward midtones than primary colors, making them grown up crayons.They last a really long time, sharpen well and you can even wet the sharpenings to create mini dot travel palettes. The one thing I wish was that they didn't break as easily. I hate working with stubby crayons.#Sweepstakes

One of my favorite art supplies

I finally see what all the hype is about, these are so lovely. The neocolor 1 pastels are basically like an artist's version of crayola crayons, smoother and with more pigment but otherwise a similar experience. The neocolor 2s are subtly softer and smoother. Still nowhere near an oil pastel, but a noticeable difference. Both the 1s and 2s are richly pigmented and don't really blend if you rub at them (they also don't smear onto the opposite page of your sketchbook as oil pastels are prone to). But as soon as you add some water to the marks from a neocolor 2 the pigment activates beautifully. The effect isn't so strong that you completely lose the original marks but they become surrounded by an aura of pigment and moving the water around can blend nearby colors. You ... MoreI finally see what all the hype is about, these are so lovely. The neocolor 1 pastels are basically like an artist's version of crayola crayons, smoother and with more pigment but otherwise a similar experience. The neocolor 2s are subtly softer and smoother. Still nowhere near an oil pastel, but a noticeable difference. Both the 1s and 2s are richly pigmented and don't really blend if you rub at them (they also don't smear onto the opposite page of your sketchbook as oil pastels are prone to). But as soon as you add some water to the marks from a neocolor 2 the pigment activates beautifully. The effect isn't so strong that you completely lose the original marks but they become surrounded by an aura of pigment and moving the water around can blend nearby colors. You can produce some really lovely textures this way.This particular color is a nice dark navy blue color. A little like idanthrene blue (PB60) in watercolors but a touch less red. #sweepstakes

disappointed in the colors offered in the 30 pack

I still need a fair amount of practice with these [on fabric...........dry, wet, or creating a paint on a palette] ] before I'm completely satisfied with them. I wish that it came with a video for application on fabric. Also.........and maybe more importantly, had I know that the shading between each duplicate color was going to be as close to each other as they are, I would NOT have purchased the 30 pack. 15 would've given me what I needed for 1/2 the price. There is hardly a difference at all. I was disappointed in that.